The area south-east of Toulouse, near employment pools

In communes south-east of Toulouse, rising population figures reflect the region’s economic development. Built-up areas are becoming denser, though a rural environment still exists. Our survey includes Ramonville, Saint-Orens and Escalquens…

On the borderline with Toulouse, Ramonville with its 11,600 residents lies between the hills and the valley of L’Hers. Reached via the ring-road and line B of the metro, it features a much-appreciated sailboat harbour on the Canal du Midi and schools up to intermediate level. The “Ferme Pédagogique de Cinquante” boasts 62.5 acres of meadows, a sports track, meeting rooms and a particularly active multi-sport section. Home to 10,900 people, the little town of Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, about 10 km from the centre of the Pink City, is crossed by the Saune and Marcaissonne rivers. Accessible by public transport and the A61 motorway, its population figures began to soar as from 1980. Today, it has a large shopping centre and facilities that include a secondary school and retirement home. Five km further out, at the gateway to Le Lauragais and Le Pays du Pastel, Escalquens offers a rural setting and accommodation mostly consisting of individual houses. Its 5,800 inhabitants work in Toulouse, Labège-Innopole or the Parc Technologique du Canal. The site itself also hosts several renowned companies : Midi-Pyrénées Plastiques, La Toulousaine and Gaches Chimie.

“In Ramonville, a distinction should be drawn between the areas near the metro, the Pink City and further on around Place Marnac, the hills and the harbour,” says Lindsay Benhamma of Immo B. The first are characterized by low-end housing ; apartments in Marnac, ie. in the largest residences in the commune, start at 1,800 €/m2, a basic “pavillon” of 100 m2 at 250,000 €. The hillsides, providing a popular, airy setting, traditionally residential, have become more built-up and mixed in character. A villa of 160 m2, built at the end of the 1970’s with a garden of 1,500 m2, costs 2,500 €/m2. Port-sud attracts executives and engineers transferred to the region. Most of them rent before acquiring homes in the same neighbourhood. As soon as a property enjoys a harbour view, it costs 2,700 €/m2. At present, the real difficulty lies in making owners aware of new conditions affecting the market. Access by metro and an environment sometimes suburban, sometimes rural, are persuasive arguments for living in Ramonville. The lack of building land justifies high prices. Standard accommodation is doing well, whereas the top end of the market, currently feeling the effect of fewer job transfers, is marking time. Buyers able to pay over 700,000 € insist on irreproachable properties.

”Saint-Orens is a peaceful address, well-known for its quality life-style,” comments Marc Perrottet of Solvimo. Its proximity to the motorways means that residents can get to the sea and mountains without going through Toulouse. The average budget of buyers looking for houses ranges from 250,000 to 300,000 €. Due to scarce offerings in old buildings, fans of apartments set their sights on new residences. Many of them, able to invest 300,000 €, hope to find building plots. One such client just paid 130,000 € for an unserviced plot of 500 m2. In the Catala neighbourhood, a home of 90 m2 in excellent condition with a garden of 1,000 m2 recently found a taker at 235,000 €. One seller is asking 340,000 € for a house of 135 m2, also with a garden of 1,000 m2, very quiet and close to shops. Escalquens makes up for being another 5 km from Toulouse by offering generous grounds and a more recent choice of housing. Prices posted here are therefore pretty much the same. Mortgage rates are low, but conditions for obtaining a loan are still drastic.

”Our clients give importance to good schools, a wide array of cultural and leisure infrastructures, and a certain autonomy for their children which is ensured by a reliable public transport network,” says Sylvie Tisseyre of Pastel Immobilier. They all like the rolling countryside of Le Lauragais, only a short distance from a leading urban centre, 1 hr 30 from the Mediterranean and 30 minutes from the Montagne Noire. Building plots are rare and inevitably expensive : a serviced plot of 500 m2 costs 160,000 to 180,000 €. First-time buyers with budgets of 200,000 € opt for properties to renovate, intending to exploit their potential to the full. One out of every five sales concerns villas of a certain standing. A couple of Parisians with children has just acquired, for example, an ultra-practical contemporary house of 185 m2 with sophisticated home automation, for 640,000 €. The majority of transactions fall into the intermediate price bracket. And the area also attracts investors. Two 2-bedroom apartments bringing rental income of 700-750 € per month recently left the agency’s files at 170,000 and 193,000 €. One of the two buyers acquired the apartment for his student son ; the second preferred the security of bricks and mortar to leaving his funds on deposit in a bank. Buyers frequently pay cash. As for those in need of a loan, they find themselves faced by ever longer delays. Estate-agents organize lots of visits, even though their clients clearly intend to “wait and see” and react to the slightest new development or news on the national and international business scenes.

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